


My Favourite Year

by ablackberrywinter



Category: Nancy Drew (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-04
Updated: 2014-02-04
Packaged: 2018-01-11 03:59:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1168411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ablackberrywinter/pseuds/ablackberrywinter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Deirdre remembers parts of her younger days and a moment with Ned Nickerson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Favourite Year

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of inspired by “Favourite Year”, a Dixie Chicks song (It’s good – You should go listen to it!) It’s a NedxDeirdre one, although the actual pairing is NancyxNed.

“Hey honey, I’ve got a meeting after work, so can you pick up the kids today?” Nancy asked, rifling through her expensive leather handbag. “Sure thing, babe.” Ned kissed his wife on her forehead.

Nancy stopped, and looked up from the bag. “I love it when you do that.” She said.

“I’ll have to do that more often then!” Ned smiled. Nancy smiled, looking at her iphone.

“Anyway, I really have to go. Don’t forgot, Sarah has soccer, and Carson has piano. I’ll see you at seven.”

“Don’t worry, honey, just go. I won’t forget.” With that, Nancy waved goodbye one last time, and hurried out the door.

Ned was lucky. He was on a bit of holiday. It turns out he’d racked up a lot of holiday time at work, and his boss insisted Ned have some time off – That the newspaper would survive without him for a little bit. So Ned had spent the last week being fun dad, instead of being always working dad. Fun dad was much better than working dad, Ned decided. And his kids agreed.

“Well, now, what should I do today?” Ned said out loud. There was no one there to tell him what to do. He decided he would go and pick up some coffee and maybe browse a bookstore or two.

With this plan in mind, Ned drove into town. He and Nancy still lived in River Heights, where Nancy worked as a private investigator. Ned passed her office on his way to the town square. He saw that building at least once a day, and every single time, he felt so damn proud of Nancy. She’s worked so hard to make her dream come true, and now it had.

It was busy at the town center, as Ned drove around trying to find a parking spot. Finally, someone pulled out, and Ned pulled right in.

He decided to grab the coffee first, and then take a walk around the streets. As he was standing in line, he noticed a tall, thin woman with long dark hair, just in front of him. She seemed familiar for some reason. She flicked her hair over her shoulder. She was wearing a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, with black boots and a red sweater. Over her shoulder was a black handbag. Ned racked his brains, trying work out where he knew this woman from.

“Deidre?” The worker called out, holding a to-go coffee cup. “That’s me.” The woman Ned had been watching stepped forward, reaching for her cup.

“Deirdre?” Ned said out loud. Deirdre turned once more to the sound of her name.

“Yes?’ She said. And then recognition flickered in her eyes.

“Ned? Ned Nickerson?”

Ned stepped out of the line. “Hey. I didn’t know you were back in town.”

“I’m not. I’m just visiting my parents for a little bit. Then it’s back to Hollywood for me.”

Ned nodded. Deirdre worked as a weather woman in River Heights for a bit, before moving to Hollywood to try and make it. She did make it; she was working on a soap opera, and had a big action film coming out soon.

“So. How have you been?” Ned looked at the woman who stood before him.

“You know what? Let’s go get something to eat, and we can talk.” Deirdre suggested.

They walked around in silence until they found a small cafe, where they could grab a quick meal.

“I’ve been ok. You know, exciting stuff’s happening and all that.” Deirdre said.

“How have you been? I heard you married Nancy.”

“Yeah, we have two kids now. Sarah and Carson. Sarah’s eleven, and Carson’s nine. They’re pretty great.”

Ned pulled out his wallet, showing a family picture to Deirdre. She looked. Nancy and Ned were smiling proudly in the picture. Sarah looked like Ned, while Carson looked just like Nancy. Deirdre blinked rapidly, trying to ignore the tears.

“Wow, you must be very happy. What a beautiful family.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty lucky. How about you? Have you met anyone yet?”

Deirdre nodded, smiling shyly. “I’m engaged. We’ll be getting married in the summer time.”

“Here?”

“No. Back in Hollywood. He’s from there, so it’s just easier.”

“Ah ok. That makes sense.”

They chatted some more, just about trivial things here and there. Finally they said goodbye and parted ways.

Ned got into his car. He just sat there, remembering something he’d never told anyone else about. Especially not his wife.

~

“Ned!” Deirdre giggled loudly. Ned put a finger to his lips. “Shh, be quiet.” Ned whispered.

“Sorry.” Deirdre whispered. Ned’s parents were downstairs sleeping. Ned did not want to wake them up.

They sat on the floor in Ned’s room. Ned passed Deirdre a bottle of cheap beer. She skulled quite a bit of it before giving it back to Ned. Deirdre looked around Ned’s room. It looked like a time capsule to Ned’s teenage years. The posters on the wall were of bands who had either stopped performing, or faded away to obscurity. There were some River Heights Pedants above Ned’s bed. And on his bedside table, there was a picture of Ned with Nancy at their prom. Deirdre looked at Nancy. She beamed with happiness, wearing a green dress that would be woefully out of fashion now, Deirdre thought snarkily. Still, she had to admit that they made an attractive couple. Deidre shook her head. That was the booze talking, surely.

“So where’s Nancy this time?” Deirdre asked.

“In Japan. She’s solving some weird ghost mystery.”

Deirdre raised an eyebrow, before remembering she didn’t care about Nancy’s cases, weird or otherwise.

“Whatever. I don’t want to talk about her.” Ned whispered.

Deirdre leaned over, kissing his cheek. Ned turned to Deirdre, kissing her on the lips.

Deirdre felt Ned’s hand slip underneath her top. She could feel him run his fingers along her skin. Their lips met once more, and Deirdre could taste the beer. They kissed for so long, Deidre lost track of time. Finally, Ned looked up at his clock.

“Oh, damn. It’s really late. You should probably go.”

Deirdre wanted to protest, to say “No, I wanna stay.” But she knew she should go.

“I’ll see you later.”

“Sure. Um, can you not tell Nancy about this?” Ned asked.

“Sure. I won’t tell anyone.” Deidre said, sadly.

~

Deirdre sat in her car, wiping away the tears. She envied Nancy. Nancy had it all. A beautiful life, with two precious children and Ned. Ned Nickerson. She looked at her ring. It was beautiful, dazzling in the sunlight. But Deirdre knew that she would have to live without Ned. He was so happy with his family. She could tell from the tone of pride in his voice, and how his face broke into a happy smile when he talked about Nancy and the kids. Pain stabbed her heart. She’d been able to ignore it, working away all the hours so she didn’t have to think about Ned. But now, confronted with the reality of his life, Deirdre could no longer ignore that she loved Ned. But she would never do anything to break up his marriage. That would be wrong. So she drove home to her parent’s house, and pretended, as she’d always done, that she was happy with her life.


End file.
